No, I did not give up, although it’s been nearly a month since my last post.

No, I did not quit my decluttering project, but if it wasn’t for the mess I have to walk around, I might consider it some days.

No, I did not buy that house and start packing. And no, I’m not going to buy that house at all any more. At least, not now.

So what has happened since my last check in? Well, I’ll tell you.

For Starters…

Firstly, you might recall I was creating a staging area in what I call my Diva Den – a guest bedroom I use for whatever I want, but just for me. I had cleared out the closet in that room, which resulted in a trip to Florida to get my head back on straight because that clean out project was a doozy. That room saw it’s own closet revealed in all it’s glory; then it was home to Kevin’s Closet stuff; and ultimately, it held all the Christmas boxes. It’s a work in progress – and still not restored to any other use except as a move in – move around – move out space.

Christmas Stuff

Secondly, I had a helper get ALL the Christmas boxes pulled from my attic … all 40+ boxes. Now, in my defense, some of those boxes were small, as they used to have to fit through a small ceiling access panel in another house. Some were large, as in a house’s worth of outdoor Christmas lights and garlands. And some were just average boxes with snowmen, or angels, or nutcrackers, or jingle bells, etc. I reviewed and sorted and reminisced and sorted and tossed and sorted some more. I finally had 2 large trash bags ready for the weekly garbage bin. All the ornaments (for all three trees!) were laid out on my bed, or on a card table, or grouped in clear shopping bags so I could give due consideration to what I might keep or donate or toss. (Good news – I can state with authority that at least one of my guest beds is a really good bed, since I have slept there for a week until I got my own bed cleared off again.)

Among the ornaments were several I had painted about 11 years ago when my kids came for Christmas. I’m no artist, to be sure, but I had personalized an ornament for everyone that year. Alas, they didn’t take them home, and I’ll probably never use them again, which I know because when they were here three years ago, I didn’t use them. So I put them (about 8 I think) in a cloth bag, then put that inside a plastic grocery sack, and I stomped on them til they were nothing but a memory. It was quite satisfying!

I bought see-through tubs, all similarly sized for easy storage, and separated things out. I finally decided on 15 tubs that I am going to donate, and about 20-ish I am going to keep. Now, don’t call me crazy. I DID let go of a lot. In those 20 are nativity sets, vintage ornaments, kids’ school ornaments, wall decor, and even one tub of items I plan to regift when appropriate. And of what I kept, one is the decor for a “birthday tree” because I have two granddaughters with birthdays Dec 27 and Dec 28, and so to avoid overshadowing their special days, I have on occasion stripped the Christmas tree and made pink & purple trees with birthday themes. I think it’s important to not just toss for the sake of someone else’s idea of what is reasonable to keep.

Oops – A Closet Re-do

I had previously sorted through and decluttered “Kevin’s Closet.” It also is my upstairs garage, and has the leftover tiles from the bathroom shower remodel, the glass globes from light fixtures that have been replaced, a carpet shampooer, a vacuum cleaner, a step stool, old curtain rods, non-Christmas decor (Easter and Halloween), craft paint and other craft supplies, a small set of tools, the Costco toilet paper and tissue boxes, etc. Once that closet was empty, I was reminded that I still had bath towels on the floor plugging the gaps from where the old carpet had been pushed up under the baseboards. Years ago, I had spilled paint on the closet floor in my closet, and when I pulled that up, I tried to make it look similar by lifting the carpet in this closet as well. Both were replaced with DIY adhesive peel-and-stick tiles. Thus, the gap. I was going to just cover it up again, but at the time, I was still thinking I’d be moving in the near future, so best just do it and get it over with. I emptied the closet a second time and convinced a friend to come help me. We measured, shopped, and sawed all those miter corners. A few hours later, we had the appropriate shoe moulding (similar to quarter round trim, I learned, but not the same) in place and the closet once again restored… in a slimmed down version, of course. The towels are now washed up and are ready to be donated.

Kind of Like: Hurry Up and Wait

Now I had to figure out what to do with the Christmas decor I wanted to donate. It turns out that most thrift stores aren’t keen to store this stuff from April until October. So I have to store it til then. I could have had a Christmas-in-April garage sale, when our neighborhood sponsored community-wide yard sales last weekend, but I opted out. I had already done so much work, and I knew that I wasn’t going to get much of a financial gain, which is why I had decided to donate in the first place. But clearly, this is now temporary storage.

Enter Sam, the young high schooler I have been hiring to help me with the heavy lifting. After our planned project to declutter the loft in my garage (i.e., open attic, sort of), he carried the 15 donation tubs down the stairs from inside the house, outside to the garage door, and then up the loft steps for storage until … October … or whenever.

Garage Loft

So… the garage loft … the next project. This area contained things like outdoor Christmas decor, old camping gear, excess dog gear (I foster dogs), and some other detritus, like shutters I removed from some of the windows in the house, and vinyl flooring I didn’t use to replace my camper bathroom floor, and rugs I no longer use, etc. Sam and a buddy of his brought all this to the garage floor, where I sorted into keep, donate, and trash piles. Our neighborhood HOA also sponsors a dumpster every spring, and it will be here this coming Saturday. So my truck is full of trash now. The “keep” stuff is now organized in the loft. And the “new” donate stuff is all over the place, unfortunately. I can’t haul it anywhere until I empty the truck this weekend.

And it turns out that not only do some thrift stores not want Christmas decor until October, some also want photos to review before they agree to take your junque, and some want money now to come pick up your goodies. Some of these non-profits have very interesting business models, to say the least! So I’ve been researching who takes what, and when. If you want specifics for the Williamsburg area, shoot me a comment or text me, and I’ll share my findings.

It’s Not Decluttering All The Time

That would all be plenty to keep me busy, right? But I needed a diversion some days, and it is springtime, and certain sales only happen now, and if I was going to sell my house, I also had to up my curb appeal game, which I paid someone to do. I couldn’t afford everything I wanted, though, so I also bought 50 bags of mulch myself, hauled them in my truck, unloaded them in the driveway, and then schlepped about half of them to the back yard, where a friend helped me fancy up a bit. I re-laid a brick border for a small flower garden (after another friend completed a brick retaining wall (only 1 or 2 layers deep) around another garden). All bricks were repurposed from a neighbor who tore up a patio 8 years ago or a tree ring I took down 2 years ago. Yeah, lots of bricks that were populating my back yard have now been tamed! Several years ago, I had laid a walking path that now has tree roots jiggling up a few spots, so someone else has been hired to fix that in a few weeks. Then I had Sam move the remaining 25 bags of mulch to the back yard, where I have been able to release some stress by dumping them and prettying up some areas (not as much fun as stomping on ornaments but still a worthy job). I am the Queen of To Do Lists some days!

The Other House

But wait – that’s not all! What, you say?? There’s more?? Yes! It turns out that the woman whose house I was so keen to buy and which prompted my decluttering to be ramped up and get confused with downsizing decided that this is not the time for her to sell her house after all. After four months, the deal belly-flopped. Although I was disappointed, admittedly, I was also relieved that the pressure was off. Trying to declutter for resale, with an eye toward downsizing, is not the same as decluttering to simplify my life. But, I had visions of fresh paint schemes and new furniture, and have already been waiting on for months and months. My Pinterest inspiration boards were exploding.

Self Care Time

So I did what any self-respecting woman would do under the circumstances. I had an energy-clearing session with an intuitive-type healer. Then I engaged in some retail therapy. Three days of combing the furniture and consignment stores from Richmond to Newport News resulted in a new chair last Friday, and a new couch on Monday. More about that another time – because that’s not all!

The Car Wants Some Attention, Too

My car decided to throw me a little red-light party, complete with chiming bells, followed by a dead battery that would not take a charge. Until it did. The mechanic charged me, but said there was nothing wrong, of course. And now neither of my key fobs work. But the panic button sure does!!!! So now I apparently have to go to the dealer to have my fobs reprogrammed. On my 18 year old car. The good news is the car now starts when I turn the key, for some mysterious reason, and the 90 degree weather this week has been cause for driving with the (car) top down.

Living in Abundance

All in all, though, these are my first-world problems. I have a (nice) house to live in, and I don’t have to worry about bombs dropping in my back yard. I have enough disposable income to buy things like a couch and chair (and pillow and matching throw), or mulch, or the services of a high school kid for a few hours here and there. I have a truck to drive when my car won’t start, and gas in both of them. My taxes were filed on time, and I wrote the check to the IRS even though I have serious doubts about the current administration’s ability to put those dollars to good use, since I’m that person who wants to believe in the inherent good my contribution can do if it makes it into the right hands. To prove to myself I have enough – enough of everything – this week I even donated to the local Humane Society which is experiencing an emergency sewer repair project, and to the American Cancer Society, because one of my very good friends had surgery for breast cancer today. I learned a long time ago that when I feel anxious that I don’t have enough, of anything, I should give away something to prove to myself I do, in fact, live in abundance.

Almost Done … Maybe

When I look at my earlier list of 37 Things in 37 Days, I am nearly done checking all the boxes, even though it has taken many more than 37 days. I have the closet in my bathroom, and then my office left to tackle. Then I will have done what I set out to do. And I can turn toward a new downsizing plan, if I decide that’s what I still want to do now. My house is so clean and spacious, I might just have to enjoy it myself for a while!